The invention relates to reduced fat renneted cheese product and its manufacture.
In the present specification and claims the expression "reduced fat cheese product" is intended to embrace both non-fat cheese as the lower extreme and cheese products having a reduced fat content as compared with what would be expected when considering the taste and texture of conventional cheeses with pressed renneted full fat cheese having about 65% fat in dry matter as the upper extreme. The expression "rennet" includes any milk clotting enzyme which can be used for cheese making.
When manufacturing reduced fat cheese product one has in the past relied on the addition or incorporation of structuring agents such as gums, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and starches or fat substitute additives, mostly of non milk origin or fat replacers such as heat denatured milk proteins which in many countries have to be declared as an ingredient on the ingredient list. Because of an increasing consumers distaste for such additives and un-naturalness it is an object of the invention to provide renneted cheese products having a reduced fat content as compared with a comparable standard cheese prepared from usual milk fat containing milk, which reduced fat cheese product is however devoid of structuring or fat replacing additives which are to be declared as an ingredient other than usual cheese ingredients. Usual cheese product ingredients which may be present in the product of this invention include milk and milk components, vegetables oils and fats, acidulants or starters, clotting enzyme, salts, spices, herbs, colouring matter and preservatives. Comparable referring in this context to taste, texture and organoleptic properties.
Another object is to provide a process for manufacture of cheese products according to this invention.